The IMPORTED ENGLISH Orpington Thread

[Faraday40]

I don't believe i have ever seen this on any breed of mine if they weren't mottled or carrying mottled. Doesn't mean much, but i haven't seen it. Lol

She looks all black now.

 

[Faraday40]

I took some orp pics today. These hatched June 17th.

Blue Buff Colombian (project bird)
Still not sure if we're keeping her.

That hatch was raised by 2 diff broodies. This group is especially tight.

"Mr Wonderful" waiting hopefully on the treat chair.

My sweet silver laced pullet

I really love these two!!!!

My blue laced orp. I plan to breed her to my roo next spring & hope to see some nicer lacing.
What do you think?

 

[Honora]

@Faraday40
OMG the silver laced ones are gorgeous! I need to post some pics of my current babies. They are 4 weeks now, getting into that awkward stage. I have the cutest dark blue one that looks like a pullet; she flies up onto my shoulder every chance she gets.

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40
OMG the silver laced ones are gorgeous! I need to post some pics of my current babies. They are 4 weeks now, getting into that awkward stage. I have the cutest dark blue one that looks like a pullet; she flies up onto my shoulder every chance she gets.

Is the shoulder hopping bird a bantam or LF? Could get painful in a few weeks if she's a LF. LOL

 

[Honora]

Is the shoulder hopping bird a bantam or LF? Could get painful in a few weeks if she's a LF. LOL

Haha! Her mom is a splash bantam and her dad is a LF jubilee. She came out very dark blue. Dad was on the small side so I don't think she will get too big.

 

[Honora]

Here's a few of my 4 week-olds. Some are jubilee orps and some are jubilee orpington mixes. They mostly look the same so they are very hard to tell apart, except for the dark one and one that has a pea comb.

 

[Faraday40]

They're looking good. Are they free ranging or in a tractor / run?

I decided to grow out a few from my last hatch. They just turned 3 weeks & are being raised by a broody hen duo. I actually want a good lav male, but I'm still not getting much comb development. (8 were sold within 24 hrs after hatch, so I temporally took the remaining 7 off the market until I can sex them.)

Because they have back up mommies, I just let them free range without the added protection of a tractor. It seems like the whole flock looks out for them (or at least doesn't peck at them.) They are very confident little chicks. Today it was in the 50s & pretty damp, but they were running around, scratching in the mulch and hunting for worms with the rest of the flock.

 

[Honora]

They're looking good. Are they free ranging or in a tractor / run?

I decided to grow out a few from my last hatch. They just turned 3 weeks & are being raised by a broody hen duo. I actually want a good lav male, but I'm still not getting much comb development. (8 were sold within 24 hrs after hatch, so I temporally took the remaining 7 off the market until I can sex them.)

Because they have back up mommies, I just let them free range without the added protection of a tractor. It seems like the whole flock looks out for them (or at least doesn't peck at them.) They are very confident little chicks. Today it was in the 50s & pretty damp, but they were running around, scratching in the mulch and hunting for worms with the rest of the flock.
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Cute babies!
Mine are in a tractor but I let them out to free range yesterday for the first time. They mostly stuck close to the tractor though. They are still coming inside to sleep but I think it's time for them to start sleeping outside. Gotta get the sleeping area ready for them!

I still can't tell whether some of them are male or female but there are a few obvious boys now and I'm 90% sure my favorite one is a pullet.

 

[Lelanae]

You could easily give the males away or keep them yourself until they're big enough to process. If you can not do the deed yourself, then there are places where you can drop them off alive & return to pick them up nicely packaged.

Lol, the last time I had English Orp chicks , they all got names. Re-homing the two 'roos was traumatic even though they went to non-
stew pot homes.

 

[rachelsflock]

Thank you so much Faraday and Rachel! I sort of wish that I had given Laurence a chance rather than re-homing him once I found a willing farmer ( with 100 production hens in need of a guy!) I am not allowed a rooster and my neighbors would not be happy to be woken at dawn, but maybe it was worth a shot --maybe with a no-crow collar? My husband convinced me not to jeopardize my over-the-limit flock by keeping a noisy rooster, but what if he was as quiet yours? At least less noisy than my Welsummer hen!
I couldn't find a you-tube video of an English orpington rooster crowing but the American guys on line were pretty loud! He was so pretty. Maybe another cuckoo orpington will soothe my heart. I would love to see pictures of your red ones, Rachel!

Lol, no pics at the moment-at least not until my rooster becomes decent again. He's half molted right now and looks totally undignified and the young cockerels I'm growing are just barely heading out of the ulgy stage. The young pullets are looking okay, but my hens are also in molt. I'll do pictures when my flock isn't busy looking like firey red feather explosions then crabby pin cushions. Come to think of it, everything over a year seems to be in molt right now, ducks included. Shabby.